Chapter 270 : Withering Life
Chapter 270: Withering Life
“Hiss—” As Janna-Roland once again crawled out from the 【Well of Vortex】, her serpentine body took human form. Staring at the massive barrier not far away, Janna-Roland retrieved the 【Well of Vortex】 from the ground.
“This is the place.”
The howling sound seemed like either the whimpering of the wind or the wailing of the Misty Forest. Accompanied by the thick, ominous air of death, Janna-Roland’s mood also grew heavy.
“System, open the quest panel.”
【Main Quest: Save the Withering Life – Revive the dying trees in the Misty Forest (0/500);
Quest Rewards: 1000 Talent Experience Points, 3000 Skill Experience Points, and three random rewards;
Quest Duration: Unlimited.】
Staring at the red text on the quest panel, Janna-Roland’s gaze inevitably settled on the quest count of (0/500).
“A total of five hundred, and they all must be dying trees that need revival.”
Janna-Roland had previously considered whether she could just purchase saplings in bulk and plant them throughout the Misty Forest as replacements for the dying trees.
However, she quickly dismissed that idea.
After all, aside from being a red-level difficulty quest, this was also Janna-Roland’s very first 【Main Quest】 so far.
Janna-Roland speculated that this quest was likely tied to the comprehension progress of the 【Growth Law Fragment】, and had to be completed with both quality and quantity in mind.
“Hu—”
She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
After scanning her surroundings, Janna-Roland finally chose a relatively "slim" tree among the many dying ones.
“I’ll practice on this tree first.”
As Janna-Roland approached, a green glow once again surged from her palm, enveloping the frail tree before her.
“Crack—”
The trunk fractured, and bark fell off. The power of the 【Growth Law Fragment】 had only just been activated by Janna-Roland, yet instead of improvement, the tree’s condition worsened.
“What’s going on?”
Bang— Even though Janna-Roland had already stopped, the cracking of the trunk didn’t cease. In an instant, the fractures spread to the roots, and the entire tree tilted to the side.
“Vines, bind—”
Just as the tree was about to fall, a mass of vines surged from the ground and tightly wrapped around the tree, forcibly anchoring it in place.
“I’m sorry. Because of my carelessness, I almost killed you—”
Sensing that the last sliver of vitality in the frail tree was about to vanish, Janna-Roland slowly walked to its side.
She gently placed her hand on the trunk, and as she listened to its emotional pain, she also expressed her apology.
“But I will do everything I can to save you.”
Like a child clinging to its mother, the moment Janna-Roland’s hand touched the tree, besides the groaning of pain, she could also feel its dependence, reluctance, gratitude—and apology.
Yes, despite the fact that it was Janna-Roland’s mistake that caused the tree’s premature decline, instead of resentment, the tree expressed its apology in return.
As if it were saying that because of its own weakness, it couldn’t withstand Janna-Roland’s blessing of power. It was all its own fault, and had nothing to do with Janna-Roland.
“Sigh—”
Letting out a light sigh, Janna-Roland finally began to understand why the green elves of Florence, who lived in harmony with nature, cherished every living thing in the Forest of Nature so dearly.
It wasn’t due to overflowing “compassion” or a “saintly” mindset, but because the green elves, born with high-level 【Plant Affinity】 talents, could communicate with trees even without awakening the 【Nature Affinity】 talent.
In their eyes, every tree was like a friend or family member, not only capable of emotions,
but also filled with endless love and attachment to the Forest of Nature. “Mold Form—”
With the help of her 【Precision Control】 talent, Janna-Roland quickly conjured over a dozen green threads of mana, thinner than strands of hair.
Following the patterns of the tree’s veins, she distributed the mana threads throughout the trunk and began maneuvering them gently. “Four-fifths of the roots are already necrotic. The causes include imbalance in the soil’s microbial community, disease infection, and vitality loss due to Dim Sun contamination.”
After a thorough inspection, Janna-Roland gradually identified the root causes of the tree’s deterioration.
Besides issues with the soil, nutrient deficiency in the roots, and bacterial infection, the most fundamental cause was contamination from Dim Sun.
Janna-Roland had anticipated this even before arriving.
If it weren’t for the life-draining effects of Dim Sun pollution, these trees, which originally possessed abundant vitality,
wouldn’t have been so vulnerable to microbial imbalance or disease.
After all, the Misty Forest was a place rich in swamps and moisture, and the tree species growing there were naturally resilient and hard to kill.
However, once the tree’s innate vitality was compromised, it was just like a human body suffering from weakened immunity—
illnesses that normally posed little threat could now become deadly.
“In this situation, using 【Light of Purification】 directly to eliminate the pollution would only hasten death—”
In fact, Janna-Roland had initially considered using the Light of Purification to clear away Dim Sun pollution, and then using the power of the 【Growth Law Fragment】 to restore the tree’s vitality and pull it back from the brink of death.
But the trees near the edge of the magic tower barrier had already had more than half of their structure destroyed by Dim Sun contamination.
If Janna-Roland were to launch a heavy purification assault using the 【Light of Purification】, the result would be similar to Jarvis-Roland’s old leg—physically "purified" right off.
While humans could undergo surgical grafting to replace missing limbs, trees that lost over half of their body and roots were no different from being dead.
That was why Janna-Roland initially planned to first use the power of the 【Growth Law Fragment】 to inject some vitality into the dying tree,
then proceed with purification of the Dim Sun contamination once its life force had been replenished.
However, even this seemingly logical plan backfired—
“Then I’ll just have to use mana threads to remove the pollution bit by bit.”
Having made up her mind, Janna-Roland no longer hesitated. As she dispersed the green mana threads, she chanted a spell once more, and used the power of the 【Purification Law Fragment】 to generate a larger number of milky-white mana threads.
“Thankfully, I had already mastered the 【Precision Control】 talent ahead of time. Otherwise, relying on my previous mana control skills, I wouldn’t know how long purification would take—”